Keeping the Party Awake

[ThaDium]

My PCs will be leaving town soon. I'm planning to harass them with goblinoids. Each night, they're going to be tormented, the sole purpose of which is to keep them awake.

The PCs set watch and start to fall asleep, when the camp is suddenly filled with a swarm of spiders, ruining their rest. Then, nothing happens until they begin to sleep again. Suddenly, wolves attack. Then, nothing. The pattern repeats first with seemingly natural events, then leading to everything from pyrotechnics being cast on their campfire to thunderstones being thrown into camp. Anything I can think of to wake them up and harry them, without actually engaging in a full on attack. Searching the woods for the enemy might reveal some of the goblins, but the rest will retreat and hide, only to return the next night.

They'll know about a keep about two nights away where they can get sanctuary, they're just going to have to make it there.

My questions are:

What in-game effects for not sleeping am I missing? (Obviously, they won't heal and the casters won't be able to renew spells.)
Should they be fatigued or go straight to exhausted?
Should they take nonlethal damage as though hustling upon moving out?
Anyone have any other thoughts on this plan?

 

[Grogg of the North]

No healing or renewed spells is a definite. If you don't have 8 hours of rest, you don't recover ability damage either.

I'd probably go for they start out as fatigued the next morning. If they push themselves, do too much, or fail to rest the next night they're exhausted.

I would also say that they can only march half as far the next day before they fall into a forced march. So they could go four hours instead of eight. If they're exhausted I'd say two hours before its considered a forced march.

One thing the goblins could do is create an area that seems safe and is very tempting to rest at. Something secluded or appears "easy" to guard. The PCs will use this area to rest only to be ambushed or captured by the goblins!

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

There's only one thing I'm concerned about - what will you do if they pursue the goblins? It sounds like you've already decided they're "undetectable" and this doesn't sound like a wholel lot of fun for the players.

This sounds like a great way to annoy your group. There doesn't seem to be anything in your planning that allows them to deal with this in any way. What if they decide to stay awake and try and catch the goblins at it? What if they have spells that can get around this?

I think you need to think more about a situation you're creating. At the moment this sounds a lot like a scene from a book rather than a game.

 

[ThaDium]

Great points! I was rolling ability damage in with healing in my head, but I suppose they are two different things.

Also, the shorter distance covered is important. I'll have to adjust down the amount they have to travel after they start to get harried. I don't think this type of thing would be fun if I drag it out too long and I'm really hoping to get them to the keep. It's a much more interesting plotline than if the goblins capture them. Although, if they can, they will.

 

[ThaDium]

There's only one thing I'm concerned about - what will you do if they pursue the goblins? It sounds like you've already decided they're "undetectable" and this doesn't sound like a wholel lot of fun for the players.

This sounds like a great way to annoy your group. There doesn't seem to be anything in your planning that allows them to deal with this in any way. What if they decide to stay awake and try and catch the goblins at it? What if they have spells that can get around this?

I think you need to think more about a situation you're creating. At the moment this sounds a lot like a scene from a book rather than a game.

I see why you'd say that, based on my post, but it's not the case. They can catch/kill the goblins, just not all of them. They do have some spells that could get around it, such as entangle. I expect them to use those spells and they'll get solid results from those actions.

This will frustrate, but not annoy my group, no doubt. That's the point. It's well within the bounds of things I've pulled in game, so I'm sure they'll be able to handle it.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[green slime]

I think its a great idea to challenge players with relatively "mundane" problems, such as sleep deprivation, weather, cold / hot environments, high altitude, other .

Obviously, though, your goblins will not be able to harrow the players as they move through, without incurring the fatigue penalties themselves, OR have co-ordinated groups across the countryside, which would require the ability to communicate between groups. Either through riders, or smoke signals, beacons, etc.

The next question you should answer, is why are they only harrowing the party? If they have this many troops, and the co-ordination required, why don't they just force the issue, and attack straight out? Have they incurred large losses recently, and so are adverse to a straight out confrontation? Or are they harbouring their forces for something else? Testing the abilities of the PCs? Are they trying to scare people off? Are they trying to reclaim territory from an ever-expanding human population?

 

[olshanski]

I pretty much agree with Green Slime and ThaDium. It sounds like kind of a railroad situation.
How are these goblins so damn powerful? Why only harrowing the party? With the resources they are expending harrowing the party, it would seem to make more sense to conduct an all-out assault to kill or capture the party, instead of sacrificing small numbers.

It sounds like more of a scene that you want to play, than anything that would logically or naturally happen with creatures acting with a resonable purpose (other than as your personal puppets). It is also a frustrating sitaution for the players.

Things you might be missing:
When travelling, we typically have a scroll of rope trick, if the wizard doesn't already have it memorized. Just to avoid even a single interruption while sleeping.
Also, as long as the wizard isn't engaging in combat or talking or using skills, it can count as "sleep" even if they aren't literally sleeping the whole time. If they wake up during an attack but choose not to get involved, it doesn't count as an interruption.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Why are the goblins acting that way?

There's been some military situations like this in history. Cao Cao faced off the Black Mountain Bandits this way (after losing his first battle). His troops, which did not outnumber the bandits, but were probably better 1 on 1, split into 12 groups, and each group would make a 2 hour attack on the bandit's camp, one after the other. The bandits literally got no rest. I'm not sure why the bandits didn't just crush Cao Cao's troops, but I presume Cao Cao's troops had greater mobility. (He liked cavalry, and bandits are usually based on foot.) The bandits were eventually exhausted and surrendered. Instead of killing them, Cao Cao made them part of his army.

The goblin behavior is pretty strange though. If they outnumber the heroes, why not just attack them? Perhaps at long range with bows. They have spellcasters, so why aren't they using attack spells instead of Pyrotechnics? If the heroes rush forward as a group, eventually they can escape (killing dozens of goblins as they do so), or at least face a more traditional fight with wolf-mounted goblins.

This is essentially a capture scenario, which means the goblins have to have massive superiority. Are they actually planning on capturing the PCs?

 

[Jester David]

What in-game effects for not sleeping am I missing? (Obviously, they won't heal and the casters won't be able to renew spells.)

Those are the big ones. Except clerics might work around that.

Should they be fatigued or go straight to exhausted?

Fatigued unless already fatigued, in which case they become exhausted.
Have them made Con checks after sixteen hours or so, but start really low.

Should they take nonlethal damage as though hustling upon moving out?

I'd have them just fall unconscious for an hour if they fail a save while exhausted. So their lookout might miss things sneaking up.
After a couple days start imposing penalties to Wisdom and Intelligence skills and checks.

Anyone have any other thoughts on this plan?

Throw in some false alarms and natural problems as well. Such as natural creatures and maybe some rain.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Anyone have any other thoughts on this plan?

Simple traps that circle the campsite. Pit traps, rope traps, falling log traps, etc. Each morning when the party tries to break camp and move out, they need to tread lightly.

You know your players, is this whole thing something they would enjoy?